Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Family size and perinatal circumstances, as mental health risk factors in a Scottish birth cohort

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Higher maternal parity and younger maternal age have each been observed to be associated with subsequent offspring suicidal behaviour. This study aimed to establish if these, and other variables from the perinatal period, together with family size, are also associated with other psychiatric morbidity.

Methods

Linked datasets of the Scottish Morbidity Record and Scottish death records were used to follow up, into young adulthood, a birth cohort of 897,685. In addition to the index maternity records, mothers’ subsequent pregnancy records were identified, allowing family size to be estimated. Three independent outcomes were studied: suicide, self-harm, and psychiatric hospital admission. Data were analysed using Cox regression.

Results

Younger maternal age and higher maternal parity were independently associated with increased risk in offspring of suicide, of self-harm and of psychiatric admission. Risk of psychiatric admission was higher amongst those from families of three or more, but, compared with only children, those with two or three siblings had a lower risk of self harm.

Conclusion

Perinatal and family composition factors have a broad influence on mental health outcomes. These data suggest that the existence of younger, as well as elder siblings may be important.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Rasmussen F, Wasserman D (2004) Restricted fetal growth and adverse maternal psychosocial and socioeconomic conditions as risk factors for suicidal behaviour of offspring: a cohort study. Lancet 364:1135–1140

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Riordan DV, Selvaraj S, Stark C, Gilbert JE (2006) Perinatal circumstances and risk of offspring suicide in a Scottish Birth Cohort. Br J Psychiatry 189:502–507

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Gravseth HM, Mehlum L, Bjerkedal T, Kristensen P (2010) Suicide in young Norwegians in a life course perspective: population based cohort study. J Epidemiol Community Health 64:407–412

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cavanagh JT, Carson AJ, Sharpe M, Lawrie SM (2003) Psychological autopsy studies of suicide: a systematic review. Psychol Med 33:395–405

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Bertolote JM, Fleischmann A (2002) Suicide and psychiatric diagnosis: a worldwide perspective. World Psychiatry 1:181–185

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Barker DJP, Osmond C, Rodin I, Fall CHD, Winter PD (1995) Low weight gain in infancy and suicide in adult life. BMJ 311:1203

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Allen NB, Lewinsohn PM, Seeley JR (2000) Prenatal and perinatal influences on risk for psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. Dev Psychopathol 10:513–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brown AS, van Os J, Driessens C, Hoek HW, Susser ES (2000) Further evidence of relation between prenatal famine and major affective disorder. Am J Psychiatry 157:190–195

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Thompson C, Syddall H, Rodin I, Osmond C, Barker DJP (2001) Birth weight and the risk of depressive disorder in late life. Br J Psychiatry 179:450–455

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tharpar A, Rutter M (2009) Do prenatal risk factors cause psychiatric disorder? Be wary of causal claims. Br J Psychiatry 195:100–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Glover V, O’Connor TG (2002) Effects of antenatal stress and anxiety. Implications for development and psychiatry. Br J Psychiatry 180:389–391

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Huizink AC, Robles de Medina PG, Mulder EJH, Visser GHA, Buitelaar JK (2003) Stress during pregnancy is associated with developmental outcome in infancy. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 44:810–818

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. O’Keane V, Scott J (2005) From ‘obstetric complications’ to a maternal-foetal origin hypothesis of mood disorder. Br J Psychiatry 186:367–368

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Bowlby J (1977) The making and breaking of affectionate bonds. I. Aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. An expanded version of the Fiftieth Maudsley Lecture, delivered before the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 19 November 1976. Br J Psychiatry 130:201–210

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kessler RC, Davis CG, Kendler KS (1997) Childhood adversity and adult psychiatric disorder in the US National Comorbidity Survey. Psychol Med 27:1101–1119

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Rutter M (1999) Psychosocial adversity and child psychopathology. Br J Psychiatry 174:480–493

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Beautrais AL (2003) Life course factors associated with suicidal behaviors in young people. Am Behav Sci 46:1137–1156

    Google Scholar 

  18. Rosenman S, Rodgers B (2004) Childhood adversity in an Australian population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 39:695–702

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Pirkola S, Isometsa E, Aro H, Kestila L, Hamalainen J, Veijola J et al (2005) Childhood adversities as risk factors for adult mental disorders. Results from the Health 2000 study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:769–777

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Stansfield S, Head J, Bartley M, Fonagy P (2008) Social position, early deprivation and the development of attachment. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44:724–731

    Google Scholar 

  21. Rodgers JL, Cleveland H, Van den Oord E, Rowe DC (2000) Resolving the debate over birth order, family size and intelligence. Am Psychol 55:599–612

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Gereral Registrar Office for Scotland (2009) Births by sex, Scotland 1855 to 2008. http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/time-series/births-1855-2008-by-sex.xls

  23. Carstairs V, Morris R (1990) Deprivation and health in Scotland. Health Bull (Edinb) 48:162–175

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Kendrick S, Clarke J (1993) The Scottish record linkage system. Health Bull (Edinb) 51:72–79

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Nitsch D, Morton S, DeStavola BL, Clark H, Leon DA (2006) How good is probabilistic record linkage to reconstruct reproductive histories? Results from the Aberdeen children of the 1950s study. BioMedCentral Medical Research Methodology. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/6/15

  26. World Health Organization (1977) International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, ninth revision (ICD-9). WHO, Geneva

  27. World Health Organization (1992) International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, tenth revision (ICD-10). WHO, Geneva

  28. Hawton K, James A (2005) Suicide and deliberate self harm in young people. BMJ 330:891–894

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hesketh T, Ding QJ, Jenkins R (2002) Suicide ideation in Chinese adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 37:230–235

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Trivers RL (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In: Campbell BG (ed) Sexual selection and the descent of man. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, pp 136–179

    Google Scholar 

  31. Hertwig R, Davis JN, Sulloway FJ (2002) Parental investment: how an equity motive can produce inequality. Psychol Bull 128:728–745

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Lawson DW, Mace R (2008) Sibling configuration and childhood growth in contemporary British families. Int J Epidemiol 37:1408–1421

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Luthar SS, Cicchetti D (2000) The construct of resilience: implications for intervention and social policy. Dev Psychopathol 12:857–885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Tomassini C, Juel K, Holm N, Skytthe A, Christensen K (2003) Risk of suicide in twins: 51 year follow up study. BMJ 327:373–374

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Cox MJ, Paley B (2003) Understanding families as systems. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 12:193–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Cox MJ (2010) Family systems and sibling relationships. Child Dev Persp 4:95–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Conger KJ, Little WM (2010) Sibling relationships during the transition to adulthood. Child Dev Persp 4:87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Gunnell D, Peters T, Kammerling R, Brooks J (1995) Relation between parasuicide, suicide, psychiatric admissions, and socioeconomic deprivation. BMJ 311:226–230

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Reijneveld SA, Emily Brugman E, Verhulst FC, Verloove-Vanhorick SP (2005) Area deprivation and child psychosocial problems. A national cross-sectional study among school-aged children. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:18–23

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Lorant V, Croux C, Weich S, Deliege D, Mackenbach J, Ansseau M (2007) Depression and socio-economic risk factors: 7-year longitudinal population study. Br J Psychiatry 190:293–298

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Larsson HJ, Eaton WW, Madsen KM, Vestergaard M, Olesen AV, Agerbo E et al (2005) Risk factors for autism: perinatal factors, parental psychiatric history, and socioeconomic status. Am J Epidemiol 161:916–925

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Wilcox AJ (2001) On the importance, and the unimportance, of birth weight. Int J Epidemiol 30:1233–1241

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Basso O, Wilcox AJ (2009) Intersecting birth weight-specific mortality curves: solving the riddle. Am J Epidemiol 169:787–797

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Bureau JF, Easterbrooks MA, Lyons-Ruth K (2009) Maternal depressive symptoms in infancy: unique contribution to children’s depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence? Dev Psychopathol 21:519–537

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Kubicka L, Roth Z, Dytrych Z, Matejcek Z, David HP (2002) The mental health of adults born of unwanted pregnancies, their siblings and matched controls: a 35-year follow-up study from Prague, Czech Republic. J Nerv Ment Dis 190:653–662

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Tweed JL, Schoenbach VJ, George LK, Blazer DG (1989) The effects of childhood parental death and divorce on six-month history of anxiety disorders. Br J Psychiatry 154:823–828

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Rodgers B (1994) Pathways between parental divorce and adult depression. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 35:1289–1308

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Richards M, Hardy R, Wadsworth M (1997) The effects of divorce and separation on mental health in a national UK birth cohort. Psychol Med 27:1121–1128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Card JJ, Wise LL (1978) Teenage mothers and teenage fathers: the impact of early childbearing on the parents’ personal and professional lives. Fam Plan 10:199–205

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Ford K, Labbok M (1990) Who is breast-feeding? Implications of associated social and biomedical variables for research on the consequences of method of infant feeding. Am J Clin Nutr 52:451–456

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Penderson CB, Mortensen PB (2004) Sibship characteristics during upbringing and schizophrenia risk. Am J Epidemiol 160:652–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Moffitt TE (2002) Teen aged mothers in contemporary Britain. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43:727–742

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The work was funded by the Scottish Chief Scientist Office: Grant number CZG/2/286 and also supported by NHS Highland, Inverness, Scotland, UK.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Daniel Vincent Riordan

    Present address: West Cork Mental Health Services, HSE, Bantry Hospital, Bantry, Co Cork, Ireland

  2. Cameron Stark

    Present address: Centre for Rural Health Research and Policy, Inverness, Scotland, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NHS Highland, Inverness, Scotland, UK

    Daniel Vincent Riordan & Cameron Stark

  2. Centre for Rural Health Research and Policy, Inverness, Scotland, UK

    Daniel Vincent Riordan

  3. NHS Scotland Information Services Division, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Carole Morris & Joanne Hattie

Authors
  1. Daniel Vincent Riordan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carole Morris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joanne Hattie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cameron Stark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Vincent Riordan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Riordan, D.V., Morris, C., Hattie, J. et al. Family size and perinatal circumstances, as mental health risk factors in a Scottish birth cohort. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47, 975–983 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0405-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0405-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation